After Jean Cocteau had issued tracts such as Le Coq et l’Arlequin (1918) and Le Rappel à l’ordre (1926), arguing against French Impressionism and German Romanticism and in favour of art for art’s sake and with prominence being given to accessibility, simplicity and structural clarity, many composers responded to his clarion call.

The devastation and emotional misery caused by the First World War and the fear of an impending further cataclysm also struck hard at existing artistic certainties. Through their music Igor Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud and Kurt Weill all endeavoured to make sense of this “new Europe” which they were experiencing around them and for its latest Glossa release the Flemish Radio Choir (VRK) has selected an ideal quintet of works to demonstrate these tendencies as well as highlighting the vocal talents of this leading European choral formation. Kurt Weill’s 1928 secular mass for the dead, Das Berliner Requiem (along with the contemporaneous cantata Vom Tod im Wald), represents the jewel in this crown, and the VRK is accompanied by I Solisti del Vento, who also offer Stravinsky’s 1923 Octet for Wind Instruments.

Both ensembles are performing here under the direction of one of the leading choral directors of today in Paul Hillier, who is as exacting in his interpretation of music from the 20th century onwards as he is in compositions from distinctly earlier periods.